Another four book reviews in Books 2016

I really need to get a life! All books read this month.

Well, Graphic Dickens: David Copperfield, as retold by Hilary Burningham and illustrated by Chris Rowlatt, just reminded me how I’ve not read any classics this year. It’s a quick read, at 78 pages (including adverts for the other books in the Graphic Dickens series). The title character, David, has a rough childhood - thrashed by his stepfather, troubled at boarding school and a factory worker at age ten. A meeting with his aunt sets him on the right path, but a face from his past and the meddlesome Uriah Heep could cause more heartbreak. I went out and bought myself a copy of David Copperfield as soon as I finished this.

The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America by Bill Bryson (379 pages) is about Bryson’s trip back to America after ten years in England. While he’s in his home town of Des Moines, he decides to go on a nearly 14,000 mile road trip to try and discover the towns of his youth - the ones set in films he watched as a child. What he got was non descript towns, the same gas stations and burger joints…typical Bryson jokes and comments in this one. Quick and light reading.

A quick read, We Should Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stems from her TED talk of the same name. This is feminism for the 21 century - warm, intelligent writing. The essay is only 52 pages, including an “About The Author” section, but definitely recommended. I’m very tempted to go and read her other works now…a must read. One of those books that will be re-read until it falls apart.

The last book for this review is The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (250 pages, including excerpt from Tears of the Giraffe). Precious Ramotswe decides to set up a detective agency in her home country of Botswana after her father becomes gravely ill. The first few cases she solves aren’t covered in any great detail, but there is something about the writing that pulls you in and you just feel like you have to keep reading. Brilliant start to the series, and another author I can’t wait to read more of.

Books Read This Year: 62. Total Pages Read So Far This Year: 15439